The Post’s Steve Serby spoke at length this past week with the legendary, 94-year-old Wizard of Westwood, who coached UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in the 1960s and ’70s.

Q: Coach Wooden, how’s your health?

A: I’d say for my age – I’m going on 95 – better than most people have a right to feel. I fell last week. I had to go to the hospital.

Q: You suffered a slight concussion?

A: I live alone. I use a cane. On level ground I’m OK. I just can’t do any distance. For years, I walked five miles every morning, early. Since I had my hip replacement in ’90, I haven’t been able to do that. I ride the stationary bike.

Q: Your doctor tells you that you need knee replacements, but you won’t listen.

A: I’d be a burden on my family. The rehab is so long. I don’t have much time left, I know that. That’s OK. I’ve lived far longer than most people have. Every day’s a good day for me.

Q: On the 21st of every month, you visit the gravesite of Nellie, your wife of 53 years, and write her a letter.

A: (Monday) was the 20th anniversary of her death. She was the only girl I ever went with. She played in the band so she could go to all the basketball games. She was vivacious, pert. I knew she was the only one for me.

Q: You’re in touch with many of your UCLA players, get together with a group of the same men almost every day, and still do speaking engagements.

A: I stay busy.

Q: The ’69-70 Knicks?

A: I liked them because they were a team.

Q: Any other pro teams you like?

A: Last year, the Detroit team.

Q: Favorite college teams?

A: Mike Krzyzewski’s teams; Roy Williams’ teams when he was at Kansas; Lute Olson’s teams at Arizona; back in the day, Pete Newell’s teams. He’s one of the great coaches of all time. And I don’t think there’s any better teacher of the game than Bobby Knight.

Q: The one coach you enjoyed matching wits against?

A: Pete Newell. His (Cal) team was so fundamentally sound, you knew it was gonna be a tough, close game every time you played him.

Q: Was your undefeated ’64 UCLA team your favorite?

A: I never picked a favorite. Of the 10 national champions, three gave me the greatest satisfaction. ’64 (Gail Goodrich, Walt Hazzard) was my first one. It was the shortest team (no starter over 6-foot-5) to ever win. They worked together tremendously well. My very last team (’74-75) – I lost two superstars in Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes, and I’d lost my starting guards Greg Lee and Tommy Curtis and had only one returning starter, David Meyers. And then the other one would be The Team Without. Because the press, and some of the opposing coaches, had insinuated that “when The Big Guy’s gone (Lew Alcindor), they’ll get their comeuppance.” We won four in a row and five of the next six.

Q: You didn’t contact out-of-state players, so you met Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) only after he had committed to UCLA?

A: His dad (a police officer) worked the 4-to-midnight shift. Mrs. Alcindor timed her meals around her husband’s work schedule. We had a one a.m. dinner in the house and went straight to the airport and caught the first plane out. It’s been written I had Jackie Robinson visit him. There was nothing to that at all.

Q: His Power Memorial coach, Jack Donohue, told you after his junior year that UCLA was one of five schools he wanted to visit. What were the others?

A: St. John’s was one. I asked his coach if we could be the last. He said, “I can’t promise that.”

Q: When Donohue got the Holy Cross job, even though Alcindor had committed to UCLA, he asked if he could visit there.

A: I told him, “I think you should,” but I was worried about it. I thought he could change his mind.

Q: You taught him the sky hook?

A: We worked on it. He had more of a sweeping hook.

Q: The Elvin Hayes game when Houston beat you, 71-69, in the Astrodome?

A: He had a great game (39 points, 15 rebounds). Alcindor (15 points) had the eye injury. He wasn’t really himself.

Q: What did you tell your team after the game?

A: “We’ll meet them again and we’ll take care of them the next time.” I think we were ahead by 40 (in the NCAA Tournament) before I called it off.

Q: Bill Walton?

A: If you grade every fundamental you think is very important for a center on a 1-10 basis, I don’t think anyone would grade any higher. I still think Lewis is the Most Valuable. He caused a little more trouble for the defense on the other team and he was a little more scary on defense. He would alter more shots.

Q: Favorite modern-day NBA players?

A: (John) Stockton and David Robinson. And (Tim) Duncan is one of my very, very favorites.

Q: No showmanship from him?

A: I despise showmanship.

Q: When you think of Vince Lombardi, you mention Gen. George S. Patton.

A: He was the same type – forceful, domineering, a bit of a showman with his pistol and so on. He was tough. His men really fought for him. He was more of a dictator type, as was Lombardi. But they got the job done.

Q: You always considered yourself more of a teacher?

A: I’d say my style would be more like (Tom) Landry’s was.

Q: You don’t like tattoos?

A: I’d have trouble today, wouldn’t I?

Q: But you always said, “There’s no progress without change,” and you relaxed your stance on long hair.

A: When I started teaching, I had a lot of rules and a few suggestions. When I stopped teaching, I had a few rules and a lot of suggestions. My feelings changed as the years went by. No profanity. I was a stickler on time, and I would not permit a player to criticize a teammate. Those three rules I stuck with.

Q: Tom Coughlin has rules that some players feel are petty. Will he loosen up now that he has established his philosophy?

A: If he feels he can get better results by easing up, he’ll do that. I don’t think he’s going to do it because you tell him or I tell him to. Coaches learn from players just as players learn from coaches.

Q: Coaches or managers in other sports you admire?

A: Joe Torre. Mike Scioscia. They’re silent leaders, good leaders by example, and still forceful enough to get the job done.

Q: Bill Belichick?

A: He has what I call a team. There are no overplayed stars, played up by the press as superstar-types.

Q: Phil Jackson?

A: He did a great job getting the other players to accept the superstars and not interfere with them.

Q: Would Jackson be a good choice for the Knicks?

A: Jackson would be a good choice for anybody. But I don’t think he’s going to take a job (unless he knows he can compete for a championship).

Q: Is Michael Jordan the best of all time?

A: Individual player.

Q: The best?

A: Most Valuable, Bill Russell. No one close to him. He made the team better. If you look up the record of (Red) Auerbach prior to getting Russell, they would lose early in the playoffs. They got Russell and they couldn’t do anything but win championships.

Q: The first forward you’d pick, excluding your own players?

A: Larry Bird, no question.

Q: Guard?

A: Jordan.

Q: Point guard?

A: Stockton.

Q: Power forward?

A: Maybe (Karl) Malone.

Q: Shaq?

A: Under the rules they let him play by, he’s definitely the Most Valuable Player in the league.

Q: Three things you’d change in basketball?

A: Just one thing – call the rules. Call traveling when it’s traveling, call carrying the ball when it’s carrying the ball. Just call ’em.

A: My philosophy and the heart of my pyramid (of success) – conditioning, skill and team spirit. He emphasized those.

Q: Your pick to win it all?

A: Illinois. I saw them play Gonzaga back in November. Illinois made them look pitiful, and Gonzaga’s a good team.

Q: You have a handwritten note from President Nixon on your den wall?

A: After I announced my retirement in 1975, he congratulated me going out with a championship. He was being retired in a different manner. You have to read between the lines.

Q: Favorite president during your lifetime?

A: (Harry S.) Truman. He said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I thought (Franklin Delano) Roosevelt was a good president. I thought (Ronald) Reagan was a good president. I don’t think there’s ever been a more brilliant man than President (Woodrow) Wilson.

Q: Best piece of advice from your parents?

A: Never try to be better than somebody else. Always learn from others and never cease trying to be the best you can be. Instead of complaining about what you don’t have, make the best of what you have. My father gave me a card that had seven points on it when I graduated from grade school. All he said was: “Try to live up to them.”

Be true to yourself. Help others. Make friendship a fine art. Drink deeply from good books, especially The Bible. Make each day your masterpiece. Build a shelter against a rainy day. Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day. The one that largely influenced my philosophy of teaching was “Make each day your masterpiece.” You can’t be perfect, but make the effort to be.

Q: Pet peeve?

A: People that don’t accept responsibility. Always blaming others.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Mother Teresa, Lincoln, Christ. One of her statements was, “A life not lived for others is not a life,” and if anyone ever lived life for others, it was Mother Teresa. She also said, “Forgiveness sets you free.”

Q: Three wishes?

A: Enduring peace between all nations of the world, all mankind to be more considerate for one another, eliminate poverty.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” the original.

Q: Favorite sports movie?

A: “Field of Dreams.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Jimmy Stewart.

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Katherine Hepburn.

Q: Favorite singer?

A: The Mills Brothers.

Q: Favorite book?

A: The Bible.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Fried chicken.

WOODEN BY THE NUMBERS

10 NCAA titles at UCLA

7 NCAA titles in a row, 1967-73

16 Final Four appearances

9 Consecutive Final Four appearances

21 Final Four victories

88 Consecutive victories, 1971-73

33 Consecutive victories in NCAA Tourney, 1964-74

4 Perfect seasons, 1964, 1967, 1972, 1973

8 Undefeated Pac 8 (now Pac 10) seasons

40 Years coaching at Dayton and South Bend Central high schools, Indiana State Teachers College and UCLA